How to Make a Bolo Ball Game
Nothing gets an outdoor get-together going like a few team yard games, and the ladder, or "Bolo-toss," game is fast becoming a party favorite. Its beauty is its simplicity, so much so that you can build your own bolo-toss game with just a few dollars and some elbow grease.
You can pick up the materials for this project at almost any hardware store, and you can modify the design in any way you like, from a different number of rungs to decorative colors.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Five 10-foot-long sticks of 3/4 inch PVC pipe
- Small saw
- Bench vise
- Twelve 3/4 inch PVC "T" fittings
- Twelve 3/4 inch PVC 90 degree fittings
- Power drill
- ¼ inch drill bit
- Golf balls
- 25 feet of nylon rope
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-
1
Cut half of the PVC pipes into 18 2-foot-long pieces and the other half into 12 1-foot-long pieces. Use the bench vise to secure the pipes during cutting for straight, smooth cuts.
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2
Connect three 2-foot-long pieces together with 90-degree fittings to form an open-sided square. Duplicate this construction a second time, and connect the two with a pair of "T" fittings, forming your ladder's base.
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3
Connect three 1-foot-long pieces together with "T" fittings and cap one end with a 90-degree fitting. Duplicate this construction a second time and connect the two with three 2-foot pieces to form the rungs of the ladder.
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4
Fit the bottom of the ladder construction into the two open "T" fitting slots in the base structure.
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5
Clamp a pair of golf balls (one after another) into the bench vise and drill a hole through the center of each. Repeat for as many bolos as you'd like to make.
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6
Connect each pair of golf balls with a length of 20-inch nylon rope and tie a knot in each end.
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1
Tips & Warnings
For a sturdier construction, apply a small amount of epoxy to the end of each pipe before fitting it into its connector.
Try using different-colored golf balls to designate different teams during play. You can also decorate the ladder construction.
